Bag forming machine



8. H. BERCH BAG FORMING MACHINE Filed Feb. 16. 1942 Aug. 28, 1945.

R w... W a a L w w 7 s w Q ..-L::.:| U Q L O i k Q Q Q Patented Aug. 28, 1945 BAG FORMING MACHINE Samuel H; Berch, Beverly Hills, Calif assignor to The Flexible Vacuum Container Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Application February 16, 1942, Serial No. 431,021

3 Claims. (Ci. 2712.1)

This invention relates to a bag forming machine.

In the formation of .bags to be usedin v'acuum sealing of products, such as shown in my issued U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,102,716, and as made from laminated sheet material as disclosed in my co-pending application entitled Method and means of making a laminated product filed November 28, 1941, bearing Serial No.- 420,824, it is desirable to provide means for continuously and rapidly forming a container from a laminated sheet of material drawn from a storage roll and folded and heat-sealed to provide a container blank which may be shaped to provide a container for a product to be heat-sealed therein. It is the principal object of the present invention, therefore, to provide apparatus in which a roll of laminated sheet material, characterized as having a surface comprising a sheet of heat-sealable material, is drawn through folding means, whereby the sheet is folded upon itself with the heat-sealable material innermost, and is thereafter heatsealed longitudinally and transversely to form the blank for a container which is then severed from the sheet, and whereby heat-sealed con-.

tainer blanks are continuously formed.

The present invention contemplates the provision of guide means for directing a web of folded sheet material from a creasing device, in-

- which the web stands vertically, to a bag forming unit into which the web is fed while lying horizontally, the guide means being capable of longitudinal and angular adjustment.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation showing a portion of the bag formingmachine with which the present invention is concerned and indicating the positions of guide members with relation thereto.

Fig. 2 is a view in transverse section as seen on the line 22 of Fig. 1 and shows the details of construction of one of the guide members.

Referring to the drawing, It) indicates a portion of a table supported by legs I l and I2. Adjoining the portion of the table which is broken away is a roll of sheet material not shown in the drawing but which sheet material is to be folded, creased, and delivered to a bag forming unit, generally indicated at l3 in Fig. l. The sheet material is preferably of the type having a thermoplastic inner surface which may be united to form sealed edges under the action of heat and pressure in the bag forming unit I3. The sheet of material is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 and by the numeral It. This sheet is drawn horizontally over a horizontal guide roller I5 to a so that the folded sheet of material stands vertically as it'advances over the table III to the bag forming unit It. It is necessary to maintain the sheet of material in its folded and creased condition'and to present it in a horizontal plane to the bag forming unit. In order to accomplish this without damaging the folded web of material a plurality of guide elements 20 are provided.

These elements are fitted with a bracket 2| by which they are secured to the table Ill. The bracket is preferably angle shaped. The vertical leg of the bracket is fitted with a horizontally extending stud 22. This stud is threaded and receives the end 23 of a guide standard 24. The axis of the stud 22 is longitudinally of the table and the portion 23 of the guide standard is pivoted on the stud so that the standard may swing transversely of the path of travel of the sheet web l4 and in a vertical plane. The outer end of the stud 22 is threaded and receives a lock nut 25 by which the standard may be set in a desired angular position. Mounted slidably upon the standard 24 is a tubular sleeve 26, which carries a threaded set screw 21 by which it may be set at any selected position along the length-of the standard 24. The sleeve 26 carries a guide blade 28 which extends longitudinally of the standard and parallel thereto and cooperates with the standard in forming a guide throat 29 through which the sheet web [4 may be drawn. It will be evident that when a plurality of standards 20 are used, as shown in Fig. l of the drawing, they may be adjusted separately so that the web It may be gradually turned from a horizontally aligned position. to a vertical plane as it travels from the creasing unit It! to the final bag forming unit 23.

In operation of the present invention, the guide units 20 may be mounted upon the table I 0 and their angular positions may be adjusted and fixed by tightening the lock nuts 25, after which the sleeve 26 of each unit may be longitudinally set so that the lower edge of the web M will rest against the outermost face of the sleeve 26 as positioned within the guide throat 29. Thus, as

the sheet web H is drawn through a series or properly adjusted guides the web may be turned from a vertical to a horizontal plane.

It will thus be seen that the guide structure here disclosed is simple in construction and may be easily adjusted to support and laterally twist a web being drawn along a horizontal path of travel. I

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it will be understood that various changes may be made in combination, construction and arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bag forming machine, a guide standard, comprising a base member, a straight rod pivotally mounted thereon to'swing in a plane normal to a web to be guided, means for adiustably setting said rod in various angular positions relative to the base, and a straight guide finger on the rod extending parallel thereto and cooperating with the rod to form a slit-like guide throat through which a flat sheet of material may be drawn. 7

2. In a bag forming machine, a guide standard, comprising a base member, a rod pivotally mounted thereon, means for adjustably setting said rod in various angular positions relative to the base, a guide finger on the rod extending parallel thereto and cooperating with the rod to form a guide throat through which a sheet of material may be drawn, and means for longitudinally setting said straight guide finger upon the rod.

3. In a machine through which a web of sheet material is drawn, a guide standard comprising a base block adapted to be fixed upon a support and having a vertical web portion disposed in a plane normal to the path of travel of the web, a straight guide rod, means pivotally mounting said guide rod to said web whereby the guide rod may swing in the plane of the web, means adjustably holding said guide rod in a set angular position, a flat straight guide blade lying parallel to the guide rod and spaced therefrom, a tubular boss at the lower end of said blade through which the guide rod extends and by which a bottom limiting shoulder is provided for the web, and means for adjusta'bly setting the boss and its blade upon the guide rod whereby the position of-the web along a length of the rod and its angular disposition may be controlled.

- SAMUEL H. BEECH. 

